Everyone knows twitchbaits and topwater lures are favorites for trophy trout anglers. After discovering success targeting largemouth bass with big glide baits and swimbaits, I took my large profile lures trout fishing.
Catch Your Next Gator Trout on a Glide Bait
Speckled trout, also known as spotted seatrout, specks or yellowmouth, hunt coastal estuaries from the mid-Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico.
Large trout are ambush predators hiding in reefs and grass flats waiting for a big meal. An eight-inch, lifelike glide bait suspended in the water looks too good to be true.
When I’m fishing the flats, I target grass edges and search for sandy pockets and potholes in the grass. I also find trout on deep oyster reefs and industrial areas with a bulkhead or riprap.
Tidal movement plays a part in setting up on the oyster reef. I position the kayak into the current so the large swimbait or glide bait drifts naturally in the current.
When I’m targeting riprap or a bulkhead, I use my side-imaging sonar to search for profile changes and place my cast perpendicular to the structure.
Go-To Glide Baits
One of my favorite lures is the Osakana Slide 170 by Raid. Its durable soft plastic design can be fished as a floater over grass and oysters or add an assist hook to turn the Raid into a slow-sinking lure perfect for fishing deeper reefs.
Another great lure is the Shimano Armajoint SF-190. The Flash Boost technology emits a fish-attracting flash to draw big strikes. This is a fun lure to burn and rip across shallow potholes on the grass flats.
Donkey Bay Swimbaits Pogey Glide is killer over shallow shell and grass flats. Adding tungsten wire or weights adjusts the sink rate to use the lure over a deep reef.
Larger presentations call for a stout rod and fluorocarbon line. The Cigar Trout is a perfect imitation of a baby speckled trout, a meal cannibalistic trout can’t turn down.
Trout Fishing Tackle
To throw smaller glide baits and swimbaits under two ounces, I run with the seven-foot Waterloo HP Slam Mag paired with a Shimano Tranx 200AHG with 20-pound fluorocarbon mainline. The rod’s solid backbone and extra-fast action keep the trout pinned during the fish’s vicious head shakes.
For swimbaits over two ounces, I use a seven-foot, three-inch Waterloo Heavy Cranker in medium heavy power and moderate action. A heavier rod handles the large lure with light action to absorb the trout’s soft mouth and hard head shakes.
Using swimbaits and glide baits takes patience. To catch more large trout, commit to making cast after cast with a heavy lure and then slowly and carefully working the lure back to the boat. By fishing a large lure, I weed out the smaller fish and find the biggest trout in the area.
Dustin Nichols is a USMC veteran and extreme sports enthusiast from the Coastal Bend of Texas. A big supporter of the Release Over 20 grassroots conservation initiative, Dustin encourages anglers to release large seatrout.
Not a bass in sight, this lineup of large lures is reserved for speckled trout. | Feature photo: Dustin Nichols
